Zoo season 3 episode 3 review: Jackson’s confession; Abigail means business

This is a very interesting week when it comes to pop-culture and the name Abigail. Earlier this week on the Fear the Walking Dead midseason finale, Victor Strand set ablaze his famed ship the Abigail. Meanwhile, on Thursday night’s new episode of Zoo, what we ended up seeing instead was Jackson’s not-so-secret sister Abigail creating her own sort of fire — a metaphorical one.

In the closing minutes of the episode, Abigail Westbrook announced her presence to her brother and various members of her team remotely before unleashing all sorts of hybrid fury on them in the form of creatures who can apparently both fly and bury themselves underground to attack from all directions. (We’re not making this stuff up.) She also conveniently has most of the team present there and trapped, given that Mitch and Clementine found themselves in the Yucatan after Mitch’s dispersed memories led him there. (Quick question: How does Jamie keep finding ways to refuel that plan so easily? It can’t be that easy.)

Mitch and Clementine underwent a few bonding sessions in the episode, ones where he found out a few not-so-welcome details about his daughter. Take, for example, that she drank beer for the first time far too young, or that Mitch’s father was not exactly the best figure in her life. (We totally saw that one coming — hard not to.) The two had just figured out where they were apparently meant to be when they met Jackson, and in turn, got attacked.

Jackson’s definitely went on his own journey over the years, but it wasn’t until the end of this episode that he came clean to Tessa about his big secret: His name, and all of the various tricks and turns he’s utilized to ensure that nobody finds him. Apparently, one of these said tricks was having the search engine within this world completely mask his face so that nobody would be able to determine who he was by searching for him. As you would expect, Tessa did not take this well, but we have a feeling that she’s not gone from the world just yet because otherwise, this whole ordeal would have been a massive waste of everyone’s time.

As for the latest Abraham reveals

If you remember, last week he and Dariela went through hell when it was revealed that Isaac was taken. Unfortunately, life for them tonight didn’t go that much better when it was one step forward, two steps back. Their plan to use Jackson to take away the leverage of Reiden Global, the evil corporation that exists mostly because a show like Zoo really needs these sort of groups in order to live up to its full crazy potential, fell apart. Not only that, but they still don’t have Isaac and they are facing another significant threat: Reiden Global isn’t as interested in their research as they are in Clementine, someone who is far more important than she’s letting on. She is pregnant, after all, and maybe Reiden knows something about this / wants to know something. Either way, it puts them in an interesting position as they have to make a decision.

Of course, first they have to find Clementine. Wheels up to the Yucatan? Seems likely, given that the preview for the next new episode (watch here) focuses primarily on the entire Zoo crew being together … before eventually going to New York City to face off against hybrids there.

Our overall take

There are many things about Zoo that don’t make sense, including how everyone is able to travel all over the world and end up at the same place at roughly the same time. Yet, you can’t deny some of the entertainment value that it brings. This show probably needed a little more humor and/or over-the-top attacks here and there, but it did a good job of layering on the mystery with Clementine while setting the stage for a semi-happy reunion next week. Grade: B.

What do you think is going to happen with Clementine next thanks to Reiden Global’s new demands, and what was your take on this episode overall? Share in the comments. (Photo: CBS.)